University Park Series Box Set: Books 1-3 (61 page)

“Seriously? You sound like an old woman.
What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing. I’m just tired from finals.”

“That was two days ago.”

“So. I need my beauty sleep.” I propped
my elbow against the ledge of the window and rested my head in my hand, closing
my eyes. My stomach let out a loud rumble and I opened my eyes. I had eaten
lunch, why was I already hungry?

“Was that your stomach?”

“Yes, I’m starving. Can we please get
something to eat?”

“I guess, do you want to—”

“There’s a Pizza Hut inside of Target.”
I sat up, my mouth salivating. “Oh, and I’m dying for some of their popcorn and
an Icee.”

“Oh. My. God. Are you serious?” Delaney
cast me a dumbfounded stare. “Since when does rabbit-food eating girl want junk
like that?”

“I don’t know. Just sounds good.” I
resumed my resting position and closed my eyes, catching a quick catnap.

We got to Target and I went straight to
the café and order my food. Within ten minutes, I devoured a personal pan pizza
with extra cheese and pepperoni. It was as if I hadn’t eaten in days. After
that, I got a large bag of popcorn and a cherry Icee.

“I can’t believe you’re eating all of
that.” Delaney’s face twisted in disgust when I shoved a handful of popcorn into
my mouth.

“You want some?” I mumbled, dropping a
few pieces on the floor.

“No thanks. I’m working out with Luke
later. I’ll be puking if I eat all of that. You should come with us.”

“I’ll think about it.” I pointed to a
blender on the shelf. “Hey, was this the one you saw on that infomercial the
other night?”

“Yeah, how much is it?”

“Shit. Ninety-nine dollars.” I started
to push the basket down the aisle when she stopped me.

“I need it. Luke wants me to start
drinking these workout shakes.”

“Whatever,” I belted out in laughter.
“You want it so he has something to make
his
shakes with when he spends
the night. Admit it.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She grabbed the box from
the shelf and set it in the buggy. We picked out everything we needed for the
apartment and, against my wishes, I chose a new comforter set with matching
curtains and shaggy toss pillows. It would look fab in our new place.

“Oh crap, I forgot something.” Delaney
turned the buggy around and I followed her, pushing another buggy.

“Holy crap. This thing is heavy. We’ve
probably got over a thousand dollars’ worth of stuff.”

“I know. Don’t remind me.” She raced
toward the beauty and health section of the store.

“What budget did your parents give you?”
I stopped, feeling winded. That pizza and junk food had done a number on me.

“Umm.” She shuffled through the boxes of
tampons and that was when it hit me.

My period. When was the last time I had
my period?

I closed my eyes, trying to remember.
March, April… I scanned my memory. I couldn’t remember. It was the fifteen of
May and typically, I had my period the first week of every month. It should
have come already.

Shit.

I grabbed my phone and quickly went to
the calendar. I scrolled through April and nothing. I scrolled through March
and sighed when I saw the fifth marked. I had only missed April and May.

No!

Was I pregnant? Not possible. I had an
IUD. Besides, the doctor had warned me that my periods might stop. I was fine.
There was no way I was pregnant.

“Come on, let’s go.” She took off down
the aisle and I stopped as we passed the pregnancy tests.

“Hold on.” I motioned for her to wait.

“What?” She turned around and followed
my line of sight. Stepping close to me, she said, “Why are you looking at PTs?”

I covered my face and started to cry, the
emotions pouring out of me like a baby. It was like I already knew the answer
before taking the test. Something in the center of me stirred and it wasn’t my
intuition — it was something else.

“Lexi?” Delaney shook me. “Why are you
crying?”

“I…” I heaved a big sigh and then used
the napkin from my Icee to blow my nose. “I’m late.”

She narrowed her eyes. “How late?”

“April late.”

“Fu—Okay. Um. Shit.” She ran her fingers
through her hair.

The room began to tilt and I broke out
in a cold sweat. If I was pregnant, Raven was definitely the father. “Oh God, I
feel sick.” The pizza, popcorn, and cherry Icee were threatening to make an
appearance all over the floor at Target. I darted toward the bathroom near the
pharmacy and made it just in time.

Ten minutes later, I dragged myself over
to where Lexi was waiting for me, sitting on a bench outside the bathroom. “Are
you okay?”

“Not really.” I wiped my forehead with a
wet paper towel. “And I don’t think it’s a stomach bug.”

“Here, sit down.” She got up and helped
me to the bench. “Do you need some water?”

“Yeah.”

She bent down, took a water bottle from
the case we were going to buy, and handed it to me. Normally, I would have
protested, but I didn’t give a shit. I felt like crap. I took a few sips and
let my head hit the wall.

She slid next to me. “I thought you had
an IUD.”

“I do.”

“Damn. Hopefully you’re not, but I think
you should take a test just to be sure.”

I lifted my head. “I think you’re
right.”

After a few minutes, I felt well enough
to walk, so we checked out. She got the car while I waited with the buggies. I
was thankful for the cool breeze since I was sweaty and clammy all over.

She pulled up to the curb and we loaded
up the car. “I think we should go to the apartment. It’s closer than the dorm
and we need to take this stuff there anyway.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” I closed my eyes,
praying what I already knew wasn’t true.

We left everything in the car, except
for the toilet paper and pregnancy tests. “Why did you buy so many?” I fumbled
with the three different brands, stuffing them in a bag.

“Just to make sure. You never know.” She
opened the door and I headed straight for the bathroom with Delaney in tow.

“All you have to do is hold the stick in
your urine stream for like five seconds.”

I turned around. “How do you know?”

Her eyes widened. “Just trust me, I
know. And you’ll need this.” She handed me the empty Icee cup. “Just rinse it
out and pee in it, otherwise you’re going to have to pee like three times.”

“Oh, yeah, good thinking.” Obviously,
this wasn’t Delaney’s first rodeo.

With shaky hands, I struggled to unwrap
the plastic from the first box. Lexi motioned for me to hand her the box. “Here,
I’ll do it.”

I grabbed another box and managed to
open it. The instructions were a mile long. “What the hell?”

“I know, like you want to read all that
shit.” Delaney rolled her eyes and tore open the package with her teeth.

Scanning the change-my-life-forever
booklet, I found the instructions quickly. “Okay, you’re right. Hold the stick
for five seconds in your urine stream and then place the cover on the tip.
Results in three minutes.” It sounded easy enough.

I quickly unzipped my shorts and sat on
the toilet.

“Wait. The cup.” Delaney quickly rinsed
it with water before handing it to me.

With her back turned, I stuck the cup
between my legs and peed, filling it halfway.

“Is this enough.” I carefully set the
cup on the counter and then tore open the package of toilet paper.

“Um, yeah, that’s plenty.” She scrunched
her nose and then picked up one of the sticks.

“Sorry, I can do it, if you want.” I
flushed and then pulled up my pants.

She shook her head. “It’s just pee. Not
vomit.”

“Oh, please don’t mention that word
right now.” My stomach tensed just thinking about the bathroom at Target. I
felt sorry for the next person who used it.

“Sorry.” She gave me a heartfelt smile.

I washed my hands and watched with an
unnerving patience as she dipped three different sticks into the cup of urine.
She handed them to me and I replaced the caps on all of them, lining them up
side by side.

“That’s it.” She washed her hands and
then dried them on her shorts. “Now, we wait.”

I set the timer on my phone and sighed.
“I need to sit down.” Walking into the hall, I slid to the floor.

She sat next to me and I leaned my head
against her shoulder. “I like the apartment.”

“Yeah, I do, too.” She laced her arm
through mine. “It’s going to be great.” It was clear that all the excitement
was gone. If I were pregnant, she wouldn’t want me living with her. A crying
baby, dirty diapers, and empty bottles all over the place — yeah, didn’t sound
so fun.

“What time are they delivering the
furniture?”

“Around three.” She tapped her feet
together, wiggling her toes. “Man, I need a pedi.”

“Yeah, me, too. I noted my chipped nail
polish. “Since they’re coming at three, that gives us time to move our stuff.”
I glanced at my phone — two minutes, fifteen seconds.

“Yeah, it does.”

“I really like the colors we picked out.
It’s going to look great.” Whatever came to mind, I said. Anything to keep my
mind off the clock counting down to predict my fate.

“I’ve always wanted to decorate in brown
and turquoise,” Delaney said with little oomph in her voice.

“Those are really great colors.”

The buzzer sounded and we both jumped. I
turned the alarm off and Delaney stood up. Extending her hand, she pulled me to
my feet. “It’s now or never.” I nodded and took a deep breath. My knees wobbled
as I walked back into the bathroom. This time, it seemed ten times smaller as the
walls narrowed around me.

Slowly, I leaned over the counter,
looking at the three sticks with Delaney peering over my shoulder. All three
tests showed small crosses.

“Oh no.” Delaney covered her mouth.

“Where are the instructions?” I tossed
the Target sack behind me and grabbed one of the inserts.

Reading through it frantically, I found
the results section. “Cross means positive, dash means negative.” I read it
again and looked at the sticks. “No. No.” I fumbled through the mess on the
counter and reached for another instruction booklet. “Plus means positive, minus
means negative.” I shook my head.

“They’re all positive, Lexi,” Delaney
said in a hushed voice.

“But I have an IUD. It’s not possible.”
My hands fell to my side as the instructions slipped to the floor. I didn’t
feel so strong any more. In fact, I felt completely weak and vulnerable. This
was horrible. What the hell was I going to do? I had just been accepted into
grad school and got an apartment with Delaney.

“Come on. Let’s go back to the dorm.”
She wrapped an arm around me. “We’ll figure everything out. No need to panic.”

“Wait. What time is it?” I grabbed her
wrist, looking at her watch. “It’s three-thirty. They’re still open. Let’s go.”
I grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the bathroom.

“What? Who’s open? Where are we going?”
Delaney stumbled behind me.

“The health center. I want them to test
me.”

“But the results are going to be the
same.”

“You never know.” I opened the front
door. “Let’s go.”

Delaney drove us back to the university
and straight to the health center. Neither of us said anything, aside from my
occasional, “Hurry!” I think we were both in shock. On the way there, I checked
the PHU website and verified the hours. I knew that student services were open
until Tuesday and since I was still technically a student, they had to see me.
We found a nearby parking spot and entered the facility.

I approached the window, thankful there
wasn’t a line. “I need to see a doctor or nurse practitioner,” I told the girl
behind the counter.

“Do you have an appointment?” She
glanced at her computer.

“No, but it’s an emergency.” Confirming
a pregnancy was an emergency, right? At least, from my viewpoint it was — screw
them if they didn’t agree.

“Okay. Just scan your student ID at the
kiosk to your right and complete the questionnaire. It will let you know your
wait time. We’ll call you when a room is available.”

“Thanks.” I removed my student ID and
scanned it as she’d instructed. I scrolled through the options and stalled when
it asked for the reason.
STD Testing, AIDS Testing, Birth Control, Pregnancy
Testing.
The list was damaging to the ego. I selected
Pregnancy Testing
and sat down next to Delaney. By four thirty, I had peed in a cup and was in a room,
waiting to be seen.

“What the hell am I going to do if I’m
pregnant?” I asked Delaney, feeling the perspiration form on my forehead. My
stomach felt like an ocean, crashing with waves, making me dizzy to the point
of severe nausea, but I wasn’t sure I had anything left to throw up.